Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Marianne Smith

Marianne has over 20 years of experience in the areas of public procurement, public infrastructure, construction and public-private partnerships. She advises clients on the development, preparation and ongoing administration of public tenders and procurement processes, and the development and negotiation of commercial agreements for the design, construction, financing and maintenance of infrastructure. Marianne is a leading expert on the procurement chapters of the trade agreements to which Canada is a party and is routinely called upon by clients to conduct in-house training on best practices in managing procurement processes in Canada. Marianne acts for domestic and international clients in a wide range of sectors, including transit and transportation, civil infrastructure, roads and bridges, water and wastewater, health-care services, information technology, gaming, energy and mining. She also regularly acts for both procuring entities and bidders with respect to conducting a successful procurement process, fairness issues, mitigating procurement risk and avoiding compliance issues. In particular, Marianne has expertise in the procurement of mega infrastructure development projects and alternative finance and procurement projects across multiple jurisdictions, including municipal, provincial, federal and international and has been at the forefront of many municipal PPP projects. Marianne is leading the Blakes team on a number of major projects including the City of Calgary’s Green Line LRT Project, Metrolinx’s GO Rail Expansion Project, the City of Toronto’s F.G. Gardiner Expressway Rehabilitation Project, and Infrastructure Ontario on the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension Project.

Alyssa Shivji

Alyssa has over 10 years of experience practicing exclusively in the areas of public procurement, infrastructure, and construction law. She regularly acts for procuring entities on complex procurements and provides advice on procurement planning and structuring, trade agreement compliance, best practices for conducting a successful procurement process, fairness issues and conflicts of interest and often leads the drafting of all procurement and contractual documentation. She has also helped numerous organizations with the development of template procurement documents, standardized commercial and construction agreements and the delivery of associated training and implementation tools. She also acts for bidders, providing advice on avoiding compliance issues and strategies for success. Alyssa acts for clients in a wide range of sectors, including transit and transportation, civil infrastructure, roads and bridges, water and wastewater, health-care services, information technology, gaming, energy and mining. Alyssa has extensive expertise in the procurement of mega infrastructure development projects and alternative finance and procurement projects across multiple jurisdictions and has been at the forefront of many municipal PPP projects across Canada. Alyssa has played a key role on numerous high-profile procurement and infrastructure projects across Canada, including VIA Rail’s acquisition of a new fleet, the Toronto Transit Commission’s Bloor Yonge Capacity Improvements Project, Marine Atlantic Inc.’s Ro-Pax Vessel procurement and the City of Calgary’s Green Line LRT Project.